I've had one for nearly 2 years and it's fine. There's side to side play but you can't feel it while you're riding. I was having to take mine apart and grease it every couple of rides or it would stop working, then I fitted the seal off a Fox shock instead of the standard crap seal and I haven't had to touch it since. That was ages ago too.

fitted the seal off a Fox shock instead of the standard crap seal and I haven't had to touch it since

please tell me more...... Presume it'll work on my Joplin 3?

Not much more to tell really. The fox seal is a much tighter fit. Last time I checked though, you could only get these as part of a shock service kit which contains all the other seals / o-rings etc. Yes it will fit the Joplin 3. There have been a couple of threads about this before so do a search. It's well worth fitting one though.